A wide variety of communication tools exist to allow people to communicate and collaborate at a distance from each other. Traditional phone conferencing systems, video conferencing systems, and other similar technologies are just some examples. Collaboration tools also allow users to collaborate on work, such as to edit shared documents and the like.
Such solutions typically require a good amount of coordination beforehand and are usually limited to people participating via their personal computing system, such as a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer, mobile phone, or other similar devices. The overall effect is relatively impersonal and lacks any of the spontaneity that might be encountered in a live, in-person situation. From a more technical perspective, all of this requires a great deal of effort, coordination, and equipment on the part of each user.
Lately it has become popular to establish an always-on video link between two locations, to allow people to interact with each other in a more spontaneous, less structured way. Sometimes this is accomplished in a relatively simple way, by two people leaving a video call on at their desks, for example. But even this approach presents drawbacks from a technical perspective, such as the lack of security and privacy, as well as the resources wasted between the two locations when the two people are not communicating.